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AJM recently asked Linus Drogs of AU Enterprises in Berkley , Michigan , to test the new Ultra-Vest MAXX Investment from Ransom & Randolph in Maumee , Ohio . Designed to reduce the formation of gas porosity when casting white gold alloys, as well as provide smoother surfaces on castings made from resin rapid prototype model materials, Ultra-Vest MAXX is a reformulation of Ultra-Vest, the company's standard gold and silver casting investment. It promises to offer thermal stability under severe casting conditions. Drogs and his staff at AU Enterprises put the investment to the test in the shop. Their results follow....
(2005) Complete Story
When it comes to white gold, my customers want the brightest, whitest white they can get -- and some are not willing to pay the premium prices palladium can command. So where do manufacturers turn for a bright white alloy that doesn ot require rhodium plating? Stuller Inc. in Lafayette, Louisiana , may be the place. When I first saw the new X1 nickel-white gold alloy, which falls into the Grade 1 category of the White Gold Whiteness Index, I was impressed by its color. But the true question was how it would perform in my casting shop.... (2005) Complete Story
Invented by Victor Joyner, a Chicagobased manufacturing jeweler, patented High Definition (HD) Patterns are made of a light-curing polymer material that can he injected into a silicone mold with very low pressure at room temperature. After hearing about the exceptional detail achieved by these patterns, and the subsequent clean burnout, I decided to put the material to the test in my shop.... (2006) Complete Story